Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will need to turn to Siliva Havili to fill the void at hooker, but the frustrated Canberra mentor says Hodgson’s absence was not why they lost to the Cowboys.

‘‘It doesn’t help your cause when you’re losing your best players. I hope it is only two or three [weeks], I don’t know what the extent is yet. That’s Liva’s job, he’s got to step in and fill Josh’s boots,’’ Stuart said. ‘‘I don’t see many positives out of that game at all. We let ourselves down, very much so. We talked about the benchmark we were setting for ourselves, and improving, and we went backwards.

‘‘We’ve put the work in to cover those [injuries], it’s been happening for the past four weeks to us.’’Canberra’s attack struggled to find any rhythm without Hodgson, with Havili and halves Sam Williams and Jack Wighton now left to shoulder the load for the foreseeable future.

The timing of Hodgson’s injury concern is far from ideal for the Raiders, who are likely to lose Josh Papalii for next week’s clash with Canterbury as he firms for Queensland selection, with the Maroons squad to be named tomorrow.

They may yet be without one or two more if Jack Wighton or Nick Cotric are called into the NSW squad tonight.

Hodgson’s potential stint on the sidelines comes just days before Bateman prepares to resume a full training program, while Rapana is expected to return from a knee injury over the coming two to three weeks.

Crashing down: Nick Cotric heads for the turf in the loss to North Queensland at Canberra Stadium yesterday. The injury-riddled Raiders need to get back on track. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Leilua’s neck injury is almost certainly season-ending in a devastating blow for the star centre Stuart said would have been selected in Brad Fittler’s Blues squad if fit.

The Raiders were their own worst enemy through yesterday’s loss to the Cowboys, starting when they bombed an early opportunity as Michael Oldfield’s pass escaped the outstretched arms of Sam Williams inside the opening three minutes.

North Queensland made the home side pay when Jake Granville found himself in open space to send Tom Opacic over the line.

Then Canberra’s new-look flanks kicked into gear as Wighton put Bailey Simonsson over moments before Michael Oldfield built on his impressive try-scoring rate on the other wing.

But the Green Machine still trailed at the break thanks to a Justin O’Neill try – his eighth in as many outings this season – and didn’t regain the lead.

The Raiders had chances to send the game to golden point extra time with several sets of six close to the Cowboys’ line in the final 10 minutes, but the visitors couldn’t produce any late magic without Hodgson there to steer the ship.